Virginia beats N.C. State 70-62 in ACC opener

Norm WoodDaily Press

Mike Scott can't mention in polite company what assistant coach Ron Sanchez told him at halftime Saturday in Virginia's 70-62 victory at North Carolina State. Just rest assured it was a not-so gentle reminder of coach Tony Bennett's play-within-yourself philosophy.

If U.Va. (9-4 overall, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) is going to be successful this season, it'll have to do it with more of these kinds of efforts, where turnovers are kept to a minimum, free throws are made and guard Sylven Landesberg is the only player permitted to freelance a little on offense.

U.Va. did all those things against N.C. State (11-5, 0-2) -- committing just 10 turnovers, connecting on its last 17 consecutive free throw attempts and 19 of 20 for the game and getting 23 points from Landesberg on an array of driving lay-ups in traffic and off-balance shots. In the process, the Cavaliers snapped a seven-game ACC road losing streak dating back to Dec. 28, 2008.

"You can't change who you are when you step in to the first game in the ACC," said Bennett, whose team rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final 12½ minutes to win his ACC debut.

"That's something we continue to fight, because we shot a little quick at times and we hurt ourselves, but then they kind of rallied back and said 'Alright, we've got to do this with tough stops and taking care of the ball and probably squeaking them out.' We're not going to dominate too many teams. You can see those kids want it so bad in the timeouts. They said 'This is why we run the hills.' This is what it's about  that mental toughness and composure."

After missing four of his five shots in the first half while settling for jumpers, Scott heeded Sanchez's halftime advice and focused in the second half on staying around the basket. Scott made four of six shots in the final 20 minutes, and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

"I will not say what (coach Sanchez) said to me," Scott said. "It was basically 'Stop all the jump shots. We know you're a lot quicker than this guy (guarding you). Get to the rim. Get to the post.' That's what I did."

U.Va. shot 36.7 percent from the floor in the first half, but bounced back in the second half with 50 percent shooting. The Cavaliers committed just three turnovers in the second half.

N.C. State shot just 40 percent from the floor for the game, and made 16 of 26 free throws. Forward Tracy Smith led the Wolfpack with 18 points and nine rebounds.

With 12:38 left, N.C. State matched its biggest lead at 43-33. U.Va., which has already equaled the victory total it took them until Feb. 18 last season to reach, went on a 16-5 run in the next six minutes, keyed by 3-pointers from guards Sammy Zeglinski and Jeff Jones. Scott also had six points during the run.

After the run, neither team led by more than four points until Landesberg drove in to the lane and hoisted a successful right-handed shot while drifting to his left with 1:51 remaining to put U.Va. up 60-55.

"If I'm that close, and I'm able to get the shot off, I'm pretty confident I'll be able to make it," Landesberg said.

Forward Dennis Horner had two late chances to give N.C. State big boosts, but he failed on both of his 3-point attempts. With the Wolfpack trailing 58-55, he misfired on a shot from in front of N.C. State's bench with 2:14 remaining. Then, with his team trailing 62-57, he air-balled a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left.

Horner, who had 12 points, entered the game averaging 47 percent (17 of 36) from 3-point range. While U.Va. got hot from the free throw line down the stretch, N.C. State missed nine of its last 20 attempts.